I am sorry if I am asking an obvious question but I need to have a bit of advice please.

My son is about to graduate and wants to do a TEFL course. I've tried to do a bit of homework to establish which training provider to use but it seems to be an absolute minefield! What should he avoid and what should he look for? Can anyone recommend a reliable TEFL training provider. We live in Cornwall, England but could travel to get the best training.

If all your son wants is a gap-year experience, an online TEFL course will suffice. It doesn't really matter which one as online courses are much of muchness. Be advised though that an ever-increasing number of employers expressly state that they won't accept them. This is because they don't include the all-important teaching practice, e.g., where you teach real students as opposed to your fellow trainees.

FWIW I took an online TEFL course as a sort of a 'taster', after which, having ascertained that TEFL was for me, I did my CELTA in Spain (you can find course providers using the link I gave above). That was three years ago and since then I have taught in Vietnam, Portugal, Poland, the UK and Spain.

Briona- thank you very much for your reply. I hadn't a clue how to get started and you've managed to help me so much in just one response :-) My son would like to teach English as a career - probably in Korea. I will have a good look around the sites you mention and let you know how I get on. Kind regards

HelloI am sorry if I am asking an obvious question but I need to have a bit advice.I live in Iran and I am teaching English to young Lerner in school and institute but I did not pass any TEFL courses and it is not possible in Iran to pass this course here and even online course because we can not pay(no credit card ...).i eager to participate in this course, it doesn't matter which country. I sent so many email but I did nit get any reply from institutes teach TEFL please help me in this matter.please tell me where can I go and participate in this course. (Europe is better for me than Asia)

If you're interested in taking a CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL, you can find providers by using the links in my earlier post. You contact the providers directly and they will send you a pre-interview task. If you successfully complete the task, they will arrange an interview. If you pass the interview, you will be offered a place on the course.

As a non-native English-speaker, you will need to prove that you have an appropriate level of English to enable you not just to complete the course but to actually teach. As a guideline you are looking at a minimum of 6.5 in the IELTS exam, 880 in the TOEIC exam or a Pass C in the CAE or CPE exams. If you haven't already done so, taking one of these exams should be your first step.